Same As It Ever Was
by Emo Cowboy
Summary: After a 7-year absence, Luke returns to Castanet Island with his daughter Lucy, hoping for a fresh start.  But what he expects and what he encounters are glaringly different.   Things will get better though...they have to, right?  Luke/Selena


"Are we there yet?"

Seven-year-old Lucy tugged at her father's shirttail as salty waves buffeted their ferry, remnants of a passing shower encasing them in a misty shell.

"Yeah, I bet we'll there any minute, c'mon, let's ask Captain Pascal!" Luke took his daughter by the hand and all but dragged her around the deck of the ship, to the bow. She giggled as her feet tripped over themselves, the only thing preventing her from a faceplant being Luke's hand firmly gripping hers.

"Hey, hey, Pascal, are we there yet?" Luke shouted as the captain came into his view. It'd been so long since he'd traveled this route, Toucan Island to Castanet Island, that even though he figured their destination would appear in the horizon any second now, it was just as likely that he was completely mistaken.

Pascal turned his head, pipe drooping from his pressed lips. Both Luke and Lucy stood waiting with the same tooth-baring sharp grins, eyes lit in the same blazing manner.

"Who's asking, you or Lucy?" Pascal's eyes twinkled as he puffed a flag of smoke from his pipe.

"Me! I'm totally psyched to see everyone again!" Luke pumped his free hand skyward, in a fist, and Lucy mimicked him.

"Yeah, totally psyched!" She leapt up, still holding tight to Luke's hand, and he swayed under her momentum and the motion of the ship.

Pascal chuckled as Lucy wobbled next to her father. "Don't worry, no more than half an hour 'til we reach Castanet Island. Just sit back and enjoy the view!"

"Aye, aye!" Luke and Lucy saluted Pascal in unison, and the captain shook his head in amusement before directing his attention back to the course in front of him.

Luke led Lucy back inside the small passenger's cabin, sitting on the cozy couch and lifting her onto his lap. A breeze whistled through the cracked-open windows and Luke immediately grabbed for the blanket that was draped over the arm of the couch, and handed it to her. He wasn't cold, but Lucy was only used to the tropical climate of Toucan Island, and Luke worried that the slightest dip in temperature would send her into a tizzy, much like it did her mother.

But Lucy only kicked her legs back and forth, absently braiding together the strands of the tassels that adorned the hem of blanket. "Daddy, what's this place called? Cass-a...Cat-sti..Canister Island...?"

"Castanet Island! You'll love it, there's tons more stuff to do than back home!" He hoped, anyway. It'd been seven years and that was more than enough time for the the Island to plummet back to the state it'd been in before Kasey'd arrived and restored it to its once-prosperous self. But despite Luke's own personal feelings about Kasey, the guy had single-handedly turned the place around, made it livable again, and at least according to Pascal, it was just as wonderful and laden with opportunity as it'd been when Luke left. Luke had no choice but to believe that when he packed up all of his and Lucy's belongings and bought a one-way ticket back to the place where the most important chapters of his life unfolded.

"That's where you and Mama met, right?" Lucy peered up expectantly at her father; her purple eyes reminded him of Selena so much, not just their color but the way they pierced through with absolutely zero effort.

Heartache screwed itself tight in Luke's chest. Lucy wasn't aware her parents were no longer together, and Luke was still too in love with Selena to face it himself. It'd only been a couple days but considering the several times already he'd come precariously close to just sitting her down and telling her, it felt like an eternity.

"Yeah, it is! Right on the beach!" His smile became genuine as the memories that flashed through his mind, split-seconds flicking by in a constant loop. Same order, same images, same unconscious reaction for the past eight years, and even now, after the split.

Split.

* * *

"_What do you mean you're leaving?" Selena tried to pull Luke away as he went through the kitchen cabinets, gathering a few pieces of cutlery and flatware for himself and Lucy each._

_"Not forever! Man, I just gotta get outta here for a bit! It's so...suffocating!" He rolled his shoulders and shook his arms as if he'd just broken free from a cage. "And I gotta take Lucy to see the world! That's what dads do!" Luke crossed the kitchen and tossed the utensils he was carrying into a large duffel bag. He could feel Selena's eyes boring into him, and when he turned back to face her, he swore given a few more seconds, steam would be spouting from her ears._

_"You maybe could've talked it over with me before you decided you were just going to up and go!"_

_"Hey, I never said you couldn't come along!" Luke walked back over to his girlfriend, setting his hands at her waist and drawing her near. "I'd love if you did, I bet everyone would be glad to see you!"_

_Selena leaned in closer with a sigh, bowing her head slightly, burnt-red tendrils of hair grazing Luke's arms. For a second he thought he'd gotten through to her at last, after years of pleading for her to return to Castanet Island with him, however briefly. But Selena muscled out of his hold, so there were a good several feet between them. "Ugh, why would you even ask me, Luke! You know I don't want to go! And you can go, fine, whatever, but you're not bringing Lucy with you!"_

_"That's so __**lame**_ _that you won't even consider it! I know it's not your favorite place, but couldn't you just like, suck it up for a week? Try to?" He made a step towards her but stopped after that; closing the physical distance between them wasn't going to do the same for the emotional gap that had done nothing but gradually expand over the years._

_"Why should I?"_

_"Because I gave up __**so **__much to be with __**you**__, here! It's so freakin' unfair that you won't do the same!"_

_"I never __**asked**_ _for you to come back with me, Luke! It was __**your**_ _brilliant idea to come with me! I could've done just fine, me and Lucy. Then all you did was bitch about missing Bo and Owen anyway." Selena folded her arms at her chest, nose pointed up with an air of superiority. She was absolutely right; Luke thought he was being romantic, a hero, when he ran away with her back to Toucan Island, but in hindsight, his exit from Castanet Island was the least graceful thing he'd ever done, and Selena always found the most impactful moments to point this out. The only other time he dealt with such a longstanding guilt trip was when he'd arrived at Julius's fifteenth birthday party wearing not only his bandana, but brown shoes with a black belt. It was five years until Julius finally invited him to another birthday._

_"Uh, duh, because I loved..." he bit down on his bottom lip and corrected himself. "Love you. You know the saying, 'People do crazy things when they're in love!' And I never got to have a real family, I want Lucy to have one! That's why she's gotta come with, she has to meet her grandpop, and all her honorary uncles and aunts. It'll be such a rockin' time, just think of all the fun she'll have playin' with all of Chloe's old dress-up clothes, or when she goes ridin' with me and Bo in the mine cart!"_

_"Oh, for the love of-" Selena muttered, and rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Why don't you just invite them all out here, I'm sure they'd enjoy getting away and-"_

_"Is it because Kasey's there?" There it was, his trump card. Kasey. The one name he'd had enough decency to not bring up in any prior arguments they had, when so often words flew from his lips unfiltered. But enough was enough. The truth had gnawed away at him more and more each time he attempted to convince Selena to visit Castanet Island with him. She'd say it was because it was Winter, and far nicer on Toucan Island than Castanet, or that it took too long to get there and that there was no way Lucy would be able to handle such a trip, but he __**knew**_ _the real reason._

_Selena had never gotten over Kasey, the guy who brought her (though unintentionally) to Castanet Island in the first place, and the guy who toyed with her feelings, __**used**_ _her and thrown her aside like a piece of rotting wood when Maya had confessed her feelings for him._

_And Luke had been there for her; maybe he wasn't the most chivalrous or tactful guy, but he knew better than to treat a woman the way Kasey had treated Selena. Hell, if he'd been closer friends with Maya, he might have seen it fit to advise her against getting involved with Kasey, too, but he'd been way too worried about Selena at the time to focus on anything else._

_Selena had tried to push him away at first, which even Luke could understand. But he made it a point to let her know how much he admired not only her bodacious bod (which Kasey did), but the fact that she'd essentially run away from home to follow her dream (which Kasey __**didn't**__). As much as he loved Castanet Island, he always wanted to explore what else the world had to offer, but knew that ever doing so was very unlikely, with all the forethought that would've been involved. But Selena had done it! With almost no money, and even less parental permission, she'd stowed away on a stranger's boat to start a whole new life. So what if they didn't have that much (or anything) in common? All the spontaneity and variety that a relationship between them could offer sent him head over heels from the beginning,_

_That spontaneity that he so thrived on didn't go over too well once Lucy was born. Too often they butted heads about how to raise her, and Luke knew that Selena thought he was stupid, oblivious, but he'd caught on; she didn't mean to be so protective of Lucy, she just hadn't been protective enough of herself, her own heart, and it came out when parenting Lucy. No matter how much Selena cherished her, wouldn't change her existence for the world, Lucy was a reminder of what her life could have been. Something she probably wouldn't ever get another chance at._

_"You...you..." Selena croaked out, tensed up and shaking almost violently, and Luke wasn't sure if she was going to break down in tears or claw his face to shreds with her cherry-red painted nails._

_"Goddess, I'm sorry, Selena! I didn't...I'm sorry!" He waved his hands out in front of him, frantically, but it was like trying to stop a runaway train with a cardboard wall. His pleading was useless, probably making things worse, but he didn't know what else __**to**_ _do._

_"Shut up!" The tears came spilling out. He was making her cry, and she __**never**_ _cried, at least not in front of him. The only time he'd ever seen her cry was when they first grew closer, when she'd sobbed over Kasey and he'd held her and promised her he'd never giver her a reason to cry again._

_But now he had. And he knew what was coming to him._

_"You can get the hell out of here, Luke. Just __**go**_ _to Castanet Island." Her jaw was set tight as she swallowed down sobs, and she evened her voice so that each word was precise, venomous, that even Luke in his attention-deficit glory couldn't mistake it. "And you can __**stay**_ _there."_

_She meant it. The day Selena didn't mean what she said was the day Luke shaved his head and went bandana-less._

_Luke closed his eyes, as if absorbing a blow to the face, and heard Selena stalk off, mumbling just loud enough something about "being so stupid...in the first place". When he knew she was gone, he half-sat, half-fell to the floor, too exasperated and disbelieving to do anything else._

_It'd been inevitable, at least to him, that they were done for, but he'd expected something more __**mutual**__, especially with Lucy around. All that rattled around his head was how they were going to explain any of this to her._

_Even in her simmering rage towards Luke, Selena saw no reason to forbid their daughter from spending time with him. She agreed to let Lucy travel to Castanet Island with Luke, which he was thankful for (though completely shocked by). She was thoroughly convinced that Lucy would hate Castanet Island anyway, and beg to come home after a week, tops. All Lucy knew was that it was a daddy-daughter "Road Trip of Awesomeness" and was bouncing off the walls with excitement when the boat docked at Toucan Island no more than twenty-four hours after the surprise had been sprung on her._

_He couldn't tell her the truth._

_Luke never thought it'd hurt so much to say goodbye, not after he'd fought so hard to leave, but it wasn't so much leaving as being kicked out._

_At least Selena let him hug her, if only because Lucy was watching. He convinced himself that she hugged him back, and he could still smell the crisp coconut shampoo she always used, could feel how warm her skin was even when she insisted on being so emotionally frigid._

* * *

"Daddy, I'm so _hungrrryyyyy_!" Lucy whined, clutching Luke's hand and dragging him off the boat before Luke hardly had any time to gather their belongings. Luke gave a thankful half-wave back to Pascal as Lucy tore on with him in tow.

It had been a while since they last ate, and he was pretty proud that she hadn't complained about it until now. He was actually pretty proud of himself for not complaining about it either. "Okay, let's go grab some chow! I could totally eat a house!"

"Yeah, me too, with lots of honey on top!" Lucy squealed.

"Don't forget the mayonnaise!" Luke added as Lucy broke away from him, chasing after the seagulls that were wandering aimlessly around the dock.

Harmonica Town seemed oddly vacant, but with the shops having closed within the past hour, Luke figured that everyone was tucking in to dinner. He meant to hightail it back to the Garmon Mines, to surprise his dad and Bo and they could meet Lucy, and he could catch up with them, and repair the damage done by his sudden departure. Especially Bo. There were a _lot _of things Luke knew he had to apologize for, and that luckily Bo was one of the few people who would still be willing to hear it after such a span a time.

But Lucy guided him to the entrance of the Brass Bar, where a rich chocolatey scent - Luke guessed brownies - lingered in the air.

"Mmmm, smells yummy..." Lucy noted dreamily before breaking into a wild hop. "Let's eat here, Daddy!"

"Sorry, Kid, I think they're closed." Luke peeked in the window; the lights were still on, but not a soul was in sight. Except for a slender figure bent down at one of the far rear tables, wiping it clean.

Kathy.

Before Luke could process anything else, Lucy threw the door open, and made a beeline for the blonde waitress. Luke chased in after her, in vain.

"Hey lady, where's the food!" Lucy waved her arms up and down, and perched up on her tiptoes, as if that would make her tall enough to see behind the counter, to find the food that was supposedly hidden from her in the kitchen.

Kathy stood in a stunned silence, wondering what to make of this random child. Luke stood at the next table front (his regular one), and he saw Kathy's green eyes blink furiously as her gaze lifted from Lucy to him. Then suddenly, she nearly screamed, but managed to mute it by clapping both hands over her mouth, her face having gone pale, the color of milk.

Luke raised a hand half-heartedly, failing to suppress a chuckle. "Hey, Kath."

Kathy flew at him before he had a chance to brace himself, both arms flinging around his neck and crushing him in a hug so strong, Owen would be jealous. "It's _you_, I can't believe it!"

Luke just laughed again as Kathy pulled away, the first time in a long while that he really didn't feel he needed to say anything.

Then she slapped him upside the head, causing Lucy to break out in giggles. "You _idiot_! You...y-you couldn't have written once in a while? Called us?"

"C'mon, Kath, you know how hard it is to _write_ _letters_, I just-"

"DADDY, I'M HUNGRY!" Lucy cried out, crocodile tears rimming her eyes.

Luke rubbed at the back of head, half out of embarrassment and half from the sting of Kathy's wrath. "Uh, Kathy, this is my daughter, Lucy. Lucy, this is your Aunt Kathy."

"Heya, Aunt Kathy!" Lucy bubbled, immediately reverting to a perfect princess, clasping her hands together and batting her eyelashes more than likely an attempt to hurry up the food-getting process, since her tirade didn't seem to be working). _So much like her mother, _Luke thought, his heart going gooey, wishing Kathy would've chosen this time to smack him instead of several moments ago.

Kathy's expression softened considerably at the label of "Aunt" and she shoved Luke down into the chair. "Let me heat y'all up the rest of tonight's dinner. Then we can get down to chit-chattin'." And she disappeared into the kitchen, her ponytail whipping behind her.

Lucy climbed into the chair next to him, snatching up the silverware and jabbing it down against the table until Kathy emerged a few minutes later with a large serving tray, filled with a plate of fat brownies and another plate piling over with seafood meuniere and mashed potatoes.

"Some fresh-baked brownies for the little lady..." Kathy set the tray down at the center of the table, winking at Luke as Lucy grabbed a brownie with each of her hands. "And some tasty, Chase-made, meuniere for you." The words were hardly out of her mouth as Luke began shovelling food into his. "You would not believe how many leftovers we seem to have without you here to gobble everyone's remnants up, you vulture."

He didn't want to laugh about it, but he did; Luke always had a habit at picking at his friends' plates, if they didn't finish their meals. Selena had found it repulsive, understandably so, and Luke had almost cut it out. But Kathy and Owen had always found it hilarious, and because it landed Luke in not just a little bit of hot water, like the time he tried to sneak a forkful of half-eaten birthday cake from Dale at the latter's birthday party, and ended up with a scar on his hand consisting of four tine-sized dots.

Kathy hurried back over to the bar, returning with two pitchers: water and coffee. She poured herself a mug of coffee and seated her self next to Luke, and when she closed her hands around the mug, that's when Luke saw it.

A dazzling ring on her fourth finger, two square-cut emeralds that matched her eyes, and a flawless diamond between them. He didn't even have to ask who it was from. Only one person would've been able to go deep enough into the mines to find such perfect stones.

He poked at it with his fork. "Aw man, you and Owen tied the knot? That's awesome!"

Kathy pressed her lips into a small smile, nodding. "And we have a son, too. Roy. He's five." They both glanced over at Lucy, who was using her two brownies like bumper cars, crashing them into one another, and lost in her own world. "You've missed a _lot_, Luke."

"Yeahf..." Luke said with his mouth full. "'ike wuft?"

Kathy took a deep breath and a long swallow of coffee, and launched into a lively summation of as many important things she could remember there on the spot.

She and Owen weren't the only ones who'd gotten married. Anissa and Dr. Jin (who had a son of their own), Toby and Renee recently too, and were on their honeymoon, a two-week fishing excursion that traveled to all different ports around the world), and (Kathy grew quiet, hesitant) Kasey and Maya had all wed in Luke's absence. And there were whispers that Gill may propose to Luna in the near future.

Speaking of Gill, he'd become mayor. Luke groaned, his mind igniting with all the pranks he could have pulled at the ceremony, all the embarrassing anecdotes he could have shared at the afterparty.

Chloe and Taylor were somewhere on the fence between best friends and boyfriend/girlfriend, if only because of Owen's interference, proclaiming Chloe wouldn't be allowed to date until he said so (which Luke knew meant "never").

"So what about you, Luke? Why'd you finally decide to grace us with your presence?"

Lucy piped up, the corners of her mouth smeared with chocolate. "Me and Daddy are on a road trip!"

Luke shot Kathy a look that told her Lucy's answer was a lie. "I'll tell ya more about it later, yeah?"

Kathy's mouth pursed into a small "o", and she ran her thumb over the handle of her coffee mug.

Lucy reached over and began scooping Luke's mostly untouched mashed potatoes into a pyramid, and Luke didn't so much not notice as not care. "Wait, I was just thinkin'-" He waggled his fork at Kathy - "Am I really the only one who _left_? Like for any real amount of time."

Kathy's eyes avoided his, and she became suddenly very interested in her coffee. "About that, I -"

"Kathy!" A booming voice interrupted them as the bar door flung open, and in stepped Owen, hair blown every which way and grinning from ear to ear. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who she was sitting with, struck dumb.

"Owen!" Luke leapt out of his chair, vaulting over two more that were in his path, and basically _landed_ in Owen's arms, wrapping both arms loosely around his neck. "Did ya miss me?" He gave Owen a cheeky smile, and wiggled his eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes, Owen unceremoniously dumped Luke onto the floor, then beamed down at him while Luke adjusted his bandana, which had gotten tugged awry. Luke returned the smile, and accepted Owen's hand to pull him up into an embrace.

Luke introduced ("Uncle") Owen to Lucy, who wasn't the least bit intimidated by him and readily peppered him with a string of questions ("How'd your muscles get so big?" "How do you spell 'Owen'?") that furthered solidified she was definitely Luke's daughter.

Then, randomly: "Hey, where's the baffroom?"

"C'mon, I'll show you where it is, hun." Kathy took Lucy by the hand and led her off to the back portion of the bar, where the restrooms were.

Owen poured himself another glass of water. "Some kid ya got there. Bet it's quite a trip for Selena raisin' the both of you." He smirked, expecting Luke to find amusement in his comment. Luke didn't.

"Man, it was a joke? What's up with you?"

Luke summarized as fast as he could what had happened between him and Selena. This was not how he planned on his reunion with Owen starting, though in a way he was somewhat put at ease, knowing he'd gotten it out to one of the few people he trusted with his life. But Owen had never particularly cared for Selena, so it felt awkward telling him how much it'd gone wrong, and still being so obviously in love with her, with the way he made sure to tell how he'd messed up as well.

He abruptly stopped when Kathy and Lucy returned, and bolted up, the chair legs screeching across the floor.

"Thanks for the grub, Kathy, but we oughta get going. I gotta introduce Luce to my dad."

"Aw, but Daddy, I wanna hang out with Aunt Kathy!" Lucy stamped her foot.

Owen and Kathy exchanged worried glances before Kathy spoke up. "Luke, I don't want you to freak out about this, but...your dad's at the clinic right now, he kind of...well, he just exhausted himself today, that's all."

"_WHAT_?" Luke cried out, and Lucy stepped behind Kathy, cowering.

Owen stood too, and laid a hand on Luke's shoulder. "It's just precautionary. He just overexerted himself working on Kasey's house extension today. I saw him before I came here, he's doin' great. Really."

"No! I gotta see him!"

"Luke, I'll come by bright an' early and you and me can go visit him first thing, alright?" Kathy offered. "It's past visiting hours, you know there's no way Irene'll agree to let you see him right now, especially if he's asleep."

This hardly calmed Luke. "What's my dad doing out there anyway all by himself? What the hell was Bo doin', couldn't he..." his voice trailed off as, again, Kathy and Owen's faces fell. "What? Just tell me, guys!"

"Luke, Bo left. Four years ago." Kathy told him, trying to keep her voice even, calm.

"What do you _mean_ he left?" Luke shoved off Owen's hand.

"He accepted a position, this place called Clover Town needed a carpenter." Owen continued, as Kathy crouched down beside of Lucy. "Guess they're like a huge marketplace or somethin', you shoulda seen the look on his face when he found out he was going to get to build basically everything from the ground up." Luke just gaped like a goldfish. "Hey, we thought you knew! We thought he would've told you!"

"No, he didn't!" Luke exclaimed, his voice cracking, and it all came flashing back; the blowout argument he'd had with Bo the night before he and Selena took off together. He'd gotten over it a week later, but apparently Bo hadn't. He couldn't believe it; Bo wasn't the type to hold grudges. Why wouldn't he have contacted Luke when he'd received that position?

Luke clapped both hands at the top of his head, eyes squinched shut, as if he were trying to block out some horrible image in front of him.

"Luke, you _left_ too!"

"That was _different_! At least I said goodbye!.." He had to Bo, anyway. And his dad. It probably wasn't the best thing to say to Owen and Kathy, whom he _hadn't_ said goodbye to, but right now his brain was hammering a hundred miles a minute. He had to confirm this, that Bo was really gone. Maybe Bo had been just hiding under his bed for the past four years; he'd always been scared of howling winds, thunderstorms, and when they were younger, Luke would camp out under the bed with him.

He approached Lucy, kneeling down so he was level with both her and Kathy. She looked scared, confused, having even less of an idea of what was going on as Luke did. "Lucy, do you _want_ to spend some time with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Owen? 'Cause I gotta check out some things at my old house anyway. Why don'tcha you and Uncle Owen see who can eat the most brownies, huh?"

"I can!" Lucy grinned evily over at Owen, then turned back to Luke. "Can I stay over at their place too! They're fun!"

Luke felt a pang of envy; he was supposed to be the super-cool-one, that all the kids wanted to hang with, to be best friends with. But this had been a good day for Lucy, and he didn't want to ruin it for her with his own personal drama. And they _were_ fun.

"'Course ya can. As long as they wanna put up with you, anyway."

"I'm sure her and Roy'll get along great." Kathy pinned up a hopeful smile.

Owen gave him a handpound of support, and Luke dashed out the door. The Autumn night hit him full-force, his skin erupting in gooseflesh that was soon extinguished by the double-time pace he took all the way back up to Cornet Carpentry.

After taking several seconds to gather his breath at the door, he burst inside (it'd been locked, but the key was at the same place it'd always been since he was a kid: on the top shelf of the closest woodrack). He ransacked what used to Bo's room, now simply storage space, with a bunch of old ax blades and excess lumber. He even thought to call out for Bo, and did, but predictably to no avail.

Bo's dresser was still there, obscured by a destructed wheelbarrow. Luke knocked it aside, and tore open the drawers. They were empty, except for the top one. He found himself staring at a framed photograph coated in a thin sheen of dust.

It was from the night of Bo's seventeenth birthday, only about a week before Luke had left. Bo was smiling, uncomfortably, like he always did around Luke, while Luke was behind Bo giving him moose antlers.

Luke supposed he should be happy about coming across it, as it did evoke fond memories. But he quickly turned it face-down and slammed the drawer closed. Why didn't Bo have it? He could understand if it'd been out in the living room, for his dad. It wasn't, though. It was laying here, forgotten.

He removed himself from the house as quickly as possible, throat burning from all the dust and having shouted for Bo. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this...tense. This overwhelmed. Even through all of his arguments with Selena, most of the time he knew they were coming to him, and had time to prepare.

This, he hadn't been prepared for. And it was all his fault, that was the worst part. He tried to will himself to blame Bo, but he couldn't. _He'd_ been the one who insulted Bo that night, had, in a fit of unadulterated anger and blind loyalty to Selena, lashed out and said things he wished he could punch himself for saying.

That very same anger surged back inside of Luke, this time at himself, and he picked up the ax that lay on the stack of wood. With a great shout of frustration, he swung it savagely straight down onto the top piece, cleaving it split in two before dropping to his knees and punching the ground.

Selena had _always_ gotten her way, and little Lucy, though she didn't comprehend it, did too; she was Daddy's Little Girl, after all. And in Luke's life, things usually just fell into place; the ends turned out okay no matter how insane his means were.

He'd always been more than able to look at the positives, to throw aside any negativity, or turn it around _into_ something hopeful. He wanted to teach that to Lucy too, knowing that that was one of the most important traits she'd need to get through this crazy thing called life.

But his dad was at the Clinic. Selena wasn't there (and why she wasn't, he was lying to Lucy about), and Bo, the one person who might be able to really _help_ and _understand_, wasn't there either and it was _all. His. Fault_. And now, his shoulder hurt too.

How was he supposed to teach Lucy something that had suddenly become so difficult to do himself?

* * *

_Okay, so this is an idea I came up with a few months ago and just kept putting off. It'll only be a few chapters long, I can not possibly imagine more than four. I actually don't **hate** Luke/Selena, and honestly the parts I dislike have to do more with Luke than Selena, lol. Hopefully even the LxS haters will give this a chance. Personally I'm feeling a lot more for Selena in this than Luke, but that's just me. _


End file.
